Definitely Sick

Wednesday afternoon is when it started. Something felt… off. I thought immediately that I might be getting sick, so I went home and tried to sleep it off. No luck. That night it got pretty bad; I couldn’t sleep and my sinuses were extremely angry.

Thursday I woke up and felt alright. I thought maybe it was a really quick cold and that I’d be fine at work. I had a few meetings, but did my best to keep them short, wash my hands before and after, and not touch my face. I even had a dentist appointment, but the only symptom I felt was a closed throat, so I didn’t cancel it.

I had skipped lunch, so I picked up bento on the way back to work after the dentist appointment. After I ate, though, things got bad fast. The headache came back, the sinuses exploded, the throat closed, and I went home and watched some movies.

The throat closing thing really bothers me. It feels like I’m wearing a tie too tight and barely not choking. If you push on your neck just below the adams apple and right in that soft spot and just hold your finger there for hours on end, that’s what it feels like. Fortunately, I’ve found that swallowing helps, so I’ve been sucking on swedish fish all day.

Today the choking feeling was too much. While chatting with some coworkers (online. I was working from home), they convinced me to go to the doc-in-a-box. I went, they had a 2 hour wait, so I came home and waited for them to call me. Eventually, they did, and the doc had a quick examination. I told him about the throat closing, and he said he’d take a look. He got his instrument out, and looked in my left ear. I said “wrong hole, doc” with a smile. He did the other ear, then said; “ok, now it’s time for the money shot. Open your mouth real wide.” Fortunately, it was a wood tongue depressor, and I was able to contain my laughter. He took some blood for a couple tests, and I watched the Simpsons on my phone while I waited. He came back and the news was good; “no mono, no strep, and your blood is healthy. It’s probably viral, and you just have to sit it out. Your lymph nodes are swollen, but your throat is pretty open, so you don’t have to worry about suffocating in your sleep. You’re contagious, so stay home for a few days.”

This does ruin my weekend plans, and means I’m going to have to work harder next week to catch up. Oh well.

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